So here we are, the last day of March – which I felt came in like a, “Lamb” well, in my humble opinion, the month is roaring out like a great big freaking huge, “Lion” not so much the weather, but instead, Covid 19. Yes, the weather has been a bit weird, but the weather really is not of importance in these new days, of the new, “Normal” for life as we know it. The Governor of Wisconsin has issued a, “Safer at Home” decree through April 24. So pretty much, everyone is at home, waiting for this virus to slow down. In the news, Door county finally got it’s first case of the virus.  So now we sit, and hold our collective breath. The county has already said,  the health system up here cannot handle a full blown outbreak, so they right now, have politely asked summer residents to not come up. Most are obeying the request, however, there are some who are coming up here anyway. I hope they realize that IF they get the virus, their health up here could be jeopardized due to the fact there just is not enough room in the hospital to deal with an outbreak of a contagious disease.

Well enough of today, lets look at tomorrow. Door county, Wisconsin as you know, is a very heavily traveled tourist area. Due to this, the businesses here are very dependent and focused on the time period of two months, July and August for the mainstay of their income. Because of that, many temporary workers (Read: College Students) come up, and work for the summer, waiting tables, serving drinks, ice cream, cleaning hotels etc. Within this workforce, there is a large population that come in to work on Visas from Europe, and other areas of the world. I am am silently (Or not so silently because I am publishing it) wondering if this can happen this summer. Can the world, not just the United States, or Wisconsin, get back to normal in this time frame? I think that this will be seen as to how the virus survives with social distancing in effect for our country, and others. China, it seemed to work, for the most part – but I think the next month of April will determine in China if it was able to hold long enough. In Spain and Italy, we are just not seeing the virus wane as much as I think officials were hoping.

Now lets look past tomorrow to the upcoming near future. I believe, hope, and pray, that this virus has and will change the way this country, and the world acts, behaves, and conducts itself, in business, politics, and just in general, humanity. I think that there will be many businesses that do not make it through this time. I also think there will be new businesses that emerge, and possibly new divisions of established companies that will emerge. This Pandemic has exposed just how internationally reliant we are on China, and other parts of the world for many of our goods that we consume. While I believe the world must be a large community as a whole, and I believe in international trade, this really exposed just how much America is reliant on many products from outside our shores. With distilleries now making hand sanitizer, and large companies figuring out that it also can be a by-product of ethanol, I think good ole, “Necessity is the Mother of invention” is happening. We also see Dyson inventing, and producing ventilators in 10 days. We see clothing manufactures making much needed masks, and bio-chemical companies designing tests for the virus, and mask cleaners very quickly.

We are coming together as a world community helping each other, and that is important now, more than ever. I hope when this virus is in our rear view mirror, companies stay with production in our country, businesses become more fiscally responsible, and people understand that constantly consuming is not really needed.

The, “Consumerist” society we have become started in the 80’s and has continued too long. Hopefully this will have people realize that what matters most is, family, and health.  If you are reading this, man you must have been bored, but thank you. I promise I will get back to writing about Kites, life in Wisconsin, and other things less heavy than the virus. But I needed to get most of this off my chest. And if you are still reading this (Yes, my punctuation, sentence structure, and general English sucks, I know) I appreciate the time you took. From my favorite Solo singer, Fish I am going to steal his parting quote – Take care, and stay alive.

Jeff – March 31 2020